Syperek relocating Seahorse Tavern to Gottingen Street

The Seahorse will move to the Marquee building at the corner of Gottingen and Portland Place. (Staff / File)

A Halifax bar that has lived through 66 years of Argyle Street history is moving.

“Up-and-coming” Gottingen Street is now the right place for the Seahorse Tavern, said owner Victor Syperek.

The Seahorse opened in 1948 and its liquor licence was the first granted in Nova Scotia after the end of Prohibition, said Syperek, who has owned the business for about 15 years.

“Quite frankly, over the years, it’s changed so much there’s nothing really left of the original Seahorse anyway,” he said.

“Of course, I’ve thought about this long and hard. It’s quite a thing to do, to move an icon. But I think the new location will be better for a lot of reasons.”

The Seahorse will move to the Marquee building at the corner of Gottingen and Portland Place, which Syperek owns.

Moving from the rented space on Argyle to his own property was an appealing idea, said Syperek.

“The landlords are perfectly fine and they’re not pushing us out, but my lease ended, so it was just time to try to figure out what to do.”

The Marquee is also bigger, increasing capacity by 80 or 90 people, and Syperek will have the chance to redevelop it from scratch, he said.

“Eventually, I think, chances are I’ll be building something there,” he said. “I’ve got a number of developers who are interested in doing something with me. It would have to be a spectacular building.”

By next spring, he hopes to have opened a new restaurant in the front part of the building. Until then, the kitchen in the basement will stay open, serving pizza and nachos, and Syperek said he may ultimately put in a brew pub downstairs.

He said he will be renovating the Marquee with new lighting and other changes, and bringing over old touches such as the signage from Argyle Street.

“It’ll have all the familiar trappings of the Seahorse. It’ll look very familiar. It’ll have a sunken dance floor like the Seahorse does. I’m hoping for the best of all worlds, as it were.”

One denizen of Halifax’s music scene said he thinks the benefits of a new Gottingen venue outweigh the nostalgia that comes with the original Seahorse space.

The offices of Halifax Pop Explosion, Music Nova Scotia and the Halifax Jazz Festival are all on Gottingen, and venues such as the Company House and the Bus Stop Theatre already host some of the city’s best small concerts, said Josh Hogan, a promoter and musician with his own record label.

“I … think Gottingen is kind of becoming the hotbed of music in Halifax, and I think having another active venue in there is actually going to be a really good thing.”

Anyone who has organized shows at the Seahorse will probably miss its backstage spot, said Hogan. There was a sense of pride in having a popular venue downtown that could fit 250 people to see visiting bands, often creating lineups down Argyle for tickets.

“The dirty back room, the green room — which is actually red — is probably the most iconic area,” Hogan said. “Sitting on that couch, there’s certainly good memories.”

And as a patron, he will remember “everything from random metal shows to DJ nights to Mellotones on a Thursday if I just happen to be downtown and actually wanted to dance to some James Brown,” he said.

There’s no firm date for the move. Syperek’s lease has ended, but the landlord will give him the time he needs, he said.